A Snake in the King's Court
by Dark Valkyrie Wong
Summary: VINDICATION FOR FROZEN SKY-WATER...also my first serious fic. All the worlds have fallen into misery, and everyone everywhere is filled with desolation. The king himself is the most wretched of all, and his knights smell a snake. Please R/R ^^


A Snake in the King's Court  
By Dark Valkyrie Wong   
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy VII, or Final Fantasy VIII. Or Lord of the Rings, for that matter (for certain references made within the story). They are all property of their makers, I agree to all terms of use, yadda yadda yadda.   
  
***IN VINDICATION FOR FROZEN SKY-WATER!! I just wanted you all to know that this piece reflects my point of view on the Kingdom Hearts characters accurately, unlike my partner fic Frozen Sky-Water which was written with RedRiku XV. That fic sort of portrayed me as a Kairi-hater and Riku- worshipper, both of which I am NOT! I'm quite a firm supporter for Kairi/Sora, Sora is one of my favorite characters of all time, and I actually HATE Riku (thus come the flames and lack of readers). I can tell that this little comment alone will cause a drastic drop in user ratings (CAN they get any lower??), but hey, if you're still with me by now then I'm deeply grateful. Now, on to the story, all two of you! ***  
  
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Chapter One  
  
Walking in a Weary Wonderland  
  
"Your Highness?"  
  
No response.  
  
"Your Highness?"  
  
He just kept sitting there, staring off into space, deep in thought.   
  
"YOUR HIGHNESS!" Upon her third try, Yuffie was able to tear the king out of his trance-like contemplation.   
  
"Hmm? Oh, yes, what is it, Yuffie?" asked the king. He was tired, ever so tired.   
  
She sighed lightly, exasperation and concern blooming on her face. "A subject is here to seek guidance, Your Highness."   
  
The king sat up a little straighter in his throne and adjusted his crown. It did not work very well. There were very few positions that the golden crest would balance on his unruly brown locks. After a few restless moments of struggling with the cursed thing, he finally gave up, allowing the crown to sit crookedly on his head. "Send them in," he commanded.   
  
"As you wish, Sire," Yuffie replied, bowing slightly before hastening over to the large palace doors, behind which waited weary peasants who had made the long pilgrimage to the castle. Weary. That is how everything seemed, now. The people she talked to, the places she had visited, towns, cities, the worlds themselves seemed weary, the earth producing half-hearted crops and the water somewhat cloudy, as if it did not have the strength to stay clear. Even the king, who was usually so full of energy and vigor, looked drained of life. Weary. Yes, that is how she would describe her king.   
  
It saddened her to see him like this. His featured drooped, his face creased with worry and desolation. His body seemed to be foreign to him, for he no longer moved as lithely as he once did. Even his eyes, once clear, bright and shining, the epitome of light and liveliness, have become clouded with pain.   
  
She opened the entrance to the large throne-room and allowed the people to come in. Servants came in bearing chairs for them to sit in, and arranged them in a semi-circle around the king's red and gold throne. The king motioned all the servants to be dismissed, and Yuffie bowed once more before walking out of the dull white enclosure, with its faded red carpet, into the courtyard and dusty sunlight filtering through graying trees.   
  
The gray-eyed ninja girl meandered through the court until she came upon a small gazebo, where she found the king's Royal Mages having their afternoon tea. "Good afternoon, Lady Aerith, Lady Rinoa," she greeted them as she approached. The folds of her dark green blouse and tan shin-high trousers moved with the afternoon zephyr, and the ribbons tying her bodice and the legs of her trousers danced in the gentle breeze. She stood politely in her soft but sturdy leather boots, awaiting a reply.   
  
The two women stopped their conversation to greet their friend. "Hi, Yuffie," Aerith and Rinoa both replied, not quite synchronized. "You know, you don't have to say 'Lady Aerith' and 'Lady Rinoa.' We're old friends, aren't we? Just call us by our names," Aerith said reprimanding but jovially at once. Yuffie always wondered how she managed to do that. Another one of her motherly features. "Come on, sit down with us," she said, waving the younger woman over while brushing a lock of shimmering brown hair away from her emerald eyes. She was wearing a pink dress under a white robe decorated with red roses on the hood and hems. *Good ol' Aerith,* Yuffie thought. Rather than taking the plain White Wizard's robe, she had hers decorated with flowers. She always liked flowers.   
  
"Yeah, come on, we can't finish all of these by ourselves you know," Rinoa giggled. A gentle breeze shifted her ebony hair and a single brown lock from her smiling amber eyes. She wore a black dress of the same design as Aerith's under a blue cloak worn by Black Wizards. The only differences that set hers apart from the rest were the white angel wings embroidered on the back and the hood instead of a tall collar.   
  
Yuffie grinned back and hopped up to take a seat at the small table. "It's good to see some people still know what joy is," she said, a twinge of sadness entering her voice.   
  
Aerith tilted her head. "What do you mean?" she asked.   
  
Yuffie mentally kicked herself for brining it up and ruining the almost- happy moment. Sighing, (she seemed to do that a lot nowadays, she thought) she answered, "Well, haven't you noticed that recently everything has been, well, a lot less pleasant?" The other two women looked puzzled. "Like, everything seems to be so downcast. People are always so sad, everywhere you go there just seems to be a sense of, I dunno, tiredness I guess you could call it. Seems to me like everything has given up hope, like the life is being sucked right out of everything. Like." she tried to think of the right words to convey how she felt, how life just seemed to be going through the motions and how everything anyone did seemed perfectly perfunctorily plain. "Like.well, just look around you. You ever notice that stuff just doesn't seem.err.*alive* anymore?"   
  
Looking around them, Aerith and Rinoa seemed to realize for the first time that what Yuffie was saying was, indeed, true. Aerith frowned, pursing her lips. "Yes, I do see it, now that you mention it. Everything has sort of a tired feeling."   
  
Rinoa nodded in assent. "I feel it too. Like everything is moping along, dragging shackles behind them." She, too, frowned. "It feels so."   
  
"Weary?" Yuffie filled in. She was staring forlornly into a cup of tea she had just poured for herself. "Yeah, that's what I thought too." She closed her eyes and let her shoulders sag. Tilting her head back, she opened her eyes to view an almost-clear blue sky and birds not-quite fluttering past through the gazebo's open roof. "And." she began. Though she could not see them, she could sense Aerith and Rinoa turning to look at her after staring dejectedly into their own cups of tea. "It's not as if the common people are the only ones feeling the weariness on their shoulders." She held her breath, waiting for the other two women to ask her what she meant. When she was greeted by silence, she pressed on. "Have either of you noticed how gloomy the king seems lately?" She brought her head forward so she could look at her comrades as she spoke. She could sense that they did not really want to discuss the topic, but she felt it important. She could not just ignore this any longer. "Just look at him. I know you see it too, you just don't want to admit it. He's drained. And it feels like he's about to give in." Yuffie could not believe those words had come from her mouth. The king was the strongest person she had ever known, and to say that he of all people seemed about to give in.   
  
Rinoa nodded despondently. "I know what you mean. He used to be so happy and energetic. And now.you're right, he does seem drained."   
  
Aerith merely shook her head in exasperation. Yuffie knew precisely how she felt. She could remember when she first met the king. It was three years ago in Traverse Town, when the worlds first became connected. She, Leon, and Aerith were searching for the Keybearer at the request of the then-king. When Leon came across the boy they were looking for, he was certainly surprised at how young and naïve he was. Well, surprised enough to be beaten by him, in any case. Yuffie mentally smiled at the memory. He would not admit it, but it took an entire month before Leon's pride was fully mended. But she could recall those days when despite the certain and impending doom, the then-future-king would never lose heart or give in. Always full of life and energy, he never allowed anything to get him down. He suffered worse than the rest of them had, but still he persevered, always with that goofy grin on his face. Poor kid, she thought. He was, after all, the one who had told them that though the heart may be weak, it would never die, and to never give up hope because even in the midst of the coldest darkness there was always a ray of light. It was bitter irony that he was the one person to stand closest to the brink of falling.   
  
"NO!" she exclaimed, suddenly standing and knocking over her chair.   
  
Aerith and Rinoa exchanged bewildered looks before turning their attention to Yuffie. "What is it?" Aerith asked urgently.  
  
"What's wrong, Yuffie?" Rinoa demanded, concerned.   
  
Yuffie stomped her foot on the ground and threw her fists down at her side while remarking determinedly to herself, "I will NOT let that happen to him!" She turned to look at her two friends, realizing how startled they must be at her sudden outburst. "You guys," she said, "we have to do something! We can't just let him wither away like this." Shaking her head, she realized something. "If we don't do something soon, he might." Yuffie refused to finish the thought. If all the plants and animals-if all the *worlds*-were withering away and dying because of their bleakness and misery. She brought a finger up to her chin in speculation. *But what can we do?* she wondered. Seizing upon an idea, she suddenly smiled and jumped up, throwing her fist into the air. "I know!" she exclaimed. "I'll go find Kairi, you two go get the Captains of the Royal Knights!" Nodding to herself, she gritted her teeth and took off running towards the palace.   
  
Aerith and Rinoa once again exchanged bewildered looks before taking off after their young friend. "He-.HEY! Yuffie, wait!" they called.   
  
Yuffie was already far ahead, running at full speed as if the weight of all the worlds depended on how soon she could find Kairi. Perhaps it did. But that was not what was on her mind. *I'll get you through this* she thought. *No matter what, I'm not giving up on you, Sora!*   
  
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Thus ends the first chapter! So how'd everybody like it? Good? Bad? Are you even awake still?? This fic is actually based on a manga my friend Jae is working on, and she said that it would be good if I did a "novelized" version of it. Some creative liberties shall be taken, because there's a lotta stuff that doesn't get explained in the manga that I feel should be addressed when in this format. This is probably the first serious fic I've worked on so far, so please tell me how much you like/dislike it! Later chapters won't be so bright and will take on much darker and angsty tones, and will also probably be longer. Starting stuff is hard for me, but once I get the ball rolling it's usually not too much trouble, so expect some higher-grade stuff later on. 


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